Common Legal Myths: "Snagging"

Building works, like the arrow of Eleatic paradox, have a propensity to get closer and closer to completion but never quite to arrive. The building industry accordingly has evolved the concept of practical completion. The term is widely understood in the industry as meaning the stage at which the works are reasonably ready for their intended use, notwithstanding that there may be outstanding "snagging" items.

There is a fairly widespread misconception that the defects liability period (now the defects "rectification period" since JCT 05) is intended as a time when the contractor attends to snagging items outstanding as at the date of practical completion and obtains release of the final moiety of retention having done so. In fact, the scheme of the JCT contract is that there should not be any outstanding items at practical completion, and the defects liability period / rectification period is the period in which the parties "wait and see" as to what defects emerge.